Month: April 2017

Fel’annár and his friends are finally of age, they plan to leave their small village and join the kings military. Fel’annár has dreamed his whole life of becoming a Captain, which is a rare enough feat for a Silvan elf. He is used to overcoming hardship though. Raised by his aunt after his mother’s death, with no knowledge of who his father is. He only knows that his father must have been an Alpine Elf, because his features are striking and different from the Silvans he was raised around. When the friends arrive at the training grounds, Fel’annár quickly shines and excels over the other new recruits. And his commanding officer takes an interest in him. With special training, he may reach his dream. The truth of his parentage may come out too, and it could be a problem for Fel’annár and the elves society.

The author has created a world full of intrigue and pain. I enjoyed the story and how it was an epic fantasy tale, that has much to say about societies. There is a serious class and race problem within the society that impacts the main characters in a very real way. The characters were strong and well crafted, with stories and lives beyond the main plot line. There were real sensible reasons for the way they behaved and the choices they made. I appreciated that the story had so much dimension.

It was easy to read in one sitting for me and I was engaged for all of the story. At times I did have to stop and think because the history did not stick with me quite as well as the current story line, but this did not overly distract or remove from the story for me. I enjoyed the book and would read more in the series.

4 out of 5 stars.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

R.K. Lander was born in the UK. Fantasy was always a central part of her life and soon began reading authors such as Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Azimov, Ray Bradbury and J.R.R. Tolkien. Now living and working in Spain, Ruth runs her own business and writes as an independent author.The Silvan is her first work, a YA epic fantasy trilogy revolving around the figure of a Silvan elf, Fel’annar. The first in the series, Path of a Novice is available for pre-order, and the second, Road of a Warrior, is approaching the editing stage.

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Lured in by a bad ex-boyfriend and the moonlight of Miami, Meg O’Hara is trapped in a nightmare situation, waiting tables for a crime boss and fearing for her life. When undercover FBI agent Christopher Shaunessy offers her a way out, she seizes it. Getting the goods on Salazar Moreno might not be easy, but she’ll do anything to be freed from her servitude and Moreno’s sexual advances, even if it means moving in with the charismatic agent.Chris Shaunessy pretends to be Meg’s lover in order to keep her safe, but he steels his heart against further involvement. Passion has no place in the sordid world of organized crime. And yet, the closer they get to cracking the case, the stronger his feelings for the spirited waitress shine. It’s a dangerous game he’s playing, and taking Meg in his arms for real could prove a fatal misstep .

EXCERPT:

“Does that man never have a day off?” Margaret Kathleen O’Hara grumbled, grabbing her tote bag and sarong to move surreptitiously along the chairs by the pool. If the hotel manager saw her here again she’d be toast. He’d more than toss her out. Threats to call the police had been thrown at her for months now. Although in her case, that might be a better deal.

With her eyes trained on his location and the Miami sun beating down on her exposed skin, Meg backed along the water’s edge attempting to leave the area before he spotted her. She needed to shower the chlorine out of her tangled hair and change for work soon. He looked in her direction and she rushed behind the closest object. It was six-foot-plus of blond-haired gorgeousness. The man’s eyes were glued to something on the upper deck.

Her boss was sitting there with one of his expensive bimbos. Did Blondie like that type? Maybe he wouldn’t notice her little game of Hide and Seek. She leaned around him, ducking back when she saw the Pool Nazi still present. Getting caught was not an option. She already owed more than she could ever repay.

“Are you okay?” Forest green eyes stared down at her, puzzled. Would he buy that she was simply looking for shade? He was big enough to provide it. With strong hands, he reached for her shoulders and Meg reflexively batted them away. She got enough of people groping her at work. Scorching curses froze before erupting from her mouth as the hotel manager moved, staring in their direction. Her mind kicked into overdrive, scrambling for a way to hide in plain sight.

“Sorry,” she squeaked. Grabbing the man’s head, she planted her mouth solidly on his. Short, thick strands of hair tickled her fingers. Firm lips yielded no resistance to the increased pressure of her mouth. Better make this look good.

An electric current skittered over her skin causing her heart to race. Maybe too good? Slowly he pulled her closer with his muscular arms. Her eyes flew open and she broke the connection. His hair-covered chest was too close for comfort. And much too tempting. Distance, she needed distance. Her eyes darted around, seeing no signs of the manager. A sigh escaped. Time to make her exit as well.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kari will be awarding a digital copy of the book on tour to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Follow the tour for more chances to win.

Kari Lemor was one of those children who read with a flashlight under the covers. Once she discovered her mom’s stash of romance novels, there was no other genre to even consider. For years, she had stories stewing in her mind, stories of love and happily ever after. But writing wasn’t something she ever liked in school. Of course, no one ever asked her to write a story about a couple falling in love. Now that her children are grown, she can concentrate on penning tales of dashing heroes who ride to the rescue and feisty heroines who have already saved themselves. Please visit her at karilemor.com and on Twitter and Facebook.

(This page uses affiliate links to help support the cost of maintaining the blog. Purchasing a product through a provided link may provide us with a small fee to help us keep doing what we do. Thanks for your support)

Everyone thought the terrorist had completely destroyed the space station where the first faster-than-light spaceship was built. Actually, the survivors were implemented as softlife in the computers, and years later they and their virtual descendants live in a thriving but isolated community. Jason1, one of the few who used to be flesh and blood, doubts that this incorporeal existence really qualifies as life. But Iooi, a young native softlife, considers her kind an evolutionary step beyond biology, and three-dimensional space an annoying abstraction.

A spaceship arrives, and the two of them stow away in its computer, intending to establish ties with the rest of humanity. But the ship’s crew is evasive about why they came and what their plans are. And the experimental spacecraft, lost since the attack on the space station, has returned, carrying an unexpected threat the softlife may be uniquely qualified to fight. Working with other softlife, an old friend, and the intimidating Space Force general Heather Lacey, Jason1 must take on terrorists, truly malicious software, and his own self-doubts.

REVIEW:

When terrorists attack the space platform where the worlds first faster than light jump ship, the Wilbur Wright, is being built and readying for launch, only the crew of technicians survive. Though a compromised oxygen system and lack of food gives them little time and rescue does not appear to be coming. So the crew take their chance on an experimental idea by the genius Amos and choose to leave their human bodies to be uploaded into the computer system. They survive the transfer, but life is different in the soft life. They live and maintain the station and even have generations of offspring, as the perceived time in the softlife is much faster than actual time.

When a strange ship docks with the broken station, the young Iooi partners with Jason1, one of the original crew members, to try and reach out to Earth. THough the return of the Wilbur Wright and human complications keep everything from going smoothly.

I love science fiction and this was a great interesting and unique to me story. I have read about the idea of uploading the human mind to computer networks before, but this take was one I had never seen. Throw in the human politics and you have a book mixed up and ready to keep you on your toes.

The author writes in a way that grips the attention and makes the story flow well. I did not want to put it down. The characters had so much personality, even those with no true form. The story flowed and kept me engaged without being predictable. I would gladly read more from this author.

4.5 out of 5 stars

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James R. Hardin will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Follow the tour for more chances to win.

James R. Hardin received his first rejection from a major publisher when he was 11 years old and has been writing fiction intermittently ever since. Softlife is his first novel, though certainly not his last. James supports himself and his family as an engineer in the R&D department of a major turbomachinery manufacturer, where he engages in aerodynamic design, computational fluid dynamics analyses, and battle with temperamental computers. When not writing or engineering, he often plays or composes music, usually on a piano or synthesizer. James lives in western Pennsylvania with his wife, a varying number of sons depending on who’s home, and a lazy dog. You can find out more about James and his writing, as well as download a few of his musical compositions, at his website www.jamesrhardin.com.

“Hey, don’t get me wrong, Amos was brilliant,” Jason1 said. “But anybody could make a mistake. He was only human.”

Well, that was literally true, but there was no need to be insulting. But 1001101110 just said quietly, “I suppose.”

“Anyway, miss—what did you say your name was?”

“1001101110.”

Jason1 gave her a blank look. “What kind of name is that for a young woman?”

“Some of us young softlife have given up the old convention of using a traditional Carbon name and a sequence number,” 1001101110 explained. “We feel it makes more sense to just use our binary pointer number in the population database as a unique identifier.”

“It sounds like something a compiler threw up,” said Jason1. “Look, it’s hard for me to get my old Carbon head around a name like that. How about if I just take the first few digits and call you Iooi for short?”

“Why would you—” But then she remembered the Carbon fascination with visual appearances, and she got it. “Oh, right, the numerals look like letters if you write them in a graphics file. How, um, clever. Very well, call me that if you must. As a young softlife, I’m flexible enough to adapt.”

“Oh, and as an old human, I’m just stuck in my programming?” Jason1 said. He laughed at her, then abruptly turned serious. “But I suppose a fellow piece of software like me will never be able to explain to you what it means to be human.”

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In the year 3050, the Confederation of Man finds that there are indeed things that go bump in the night:

Aboard the starliner Titanic, Chief Security Officer Marcus Martin must choose between rescuing his vessel or the love of his life from creatures that are the stuff of nightmares.

Commander Leslie Hawkins must make a Hobbesian decide between human decency…and humanity itself. Facing overwhelming odds, she must use the obsolescent destroyer Shigure to buy that most precious of resources: time.

Captain Mackenzie Bolan has no decision. His unproven vessel and her crew are the closest rescue the Titanic and Shigure have. The only question will be can the Constitution arrive in time.

REVIEW:

So this book is a space opera set about 1000 years into the future. The author was very thorough in his descriptions of people and events. So much so that at times the story gets bogged down with the details. An epic battle scene doesn’t pack as much punch when you read multiple paragraphs about the size and physical description of every single crew member in the room as well as every single movement they make to fire the weapons and then describe every minute detail about what powers the weapon and how it fires. This is often a problem in epic sci-fi writing. Authors often focus so much on the technical bits, that the story lags. I had a hard time getting into this book. It was a long read for me and I did like it overall, however, I could have done with more back story and less detail. Also, there were too many characters to keep track of too quickly and I got lost a few times.

For a story set so far in the future, i was a bit thrown off by how many current pop culture references were made. Why would people care about all the things from the 20th century 1000 years from now. The main characters were strong though and the main storyline was interesting. I overall enjoyed it, though I don’t think I am interested in reading other books in this series.

3 out of 5 stars

EXCERPT:

“Marcus…” Sarah said, her voice breathless. “Marcus!”

It was the desperate, out of breath cry followed by the wet gurgle as she nearly vomited from inhaling that finally pierced the fog around Marcus’s brain. Turning around, he found himself confronted with his very angry fiancé.

“Dammit, Marcus, you and the fucking Spartans are about to give us all heart attacks,” Sarah snapped, her chest heaving and sweat pouring down her face. “We have wounded and elderly people, and half of them are having to hang onto other people. Where the hell are we going in such a hurry?!”

Marcus felt himself nearly scream at Sarah in rage, his expression causing her to take a step back.

She doesn’t realize what’s going on, he thought, fighting to contain his rage. No one besides the security folks and maybe the Spartans do.

“Engineering,” Senator Lu interjected from behind Marcus. “The first place you secure in any boarding action is the powerplant.”

Thank you, Senator, Marcus thought, slightly more in control of his emotions.

“Why not the bridge?” Sarah asked, confused.

“You can’t really do much from the bridge if you have no power,” Marcus bit out. Realizing he had snapped, he moderated his tone while continuing to explain. “You’re basically king of a little realm that has no ability to supply its own air, heat, or light. But engineering is our second stop, I’m just trying to get us into Corridor C so we can find a working intraship communication console.”

“I thought we’ve passed two?” Sarah said.

“No power,” Aimi remarked, still scanning the darkened hallway to their front through the Kanabo’s scope. “Whomever designed this ship’s subroutines should have their legs broken then left out on the plains for predators.”

“Charming,” Sarah observed lowly, drawing a poisoned look from the Spartan woman. Marcus hated that he found himself agreeing with Aimi’s sentiment more than Sarah’s. He looked and saw that their gaggle had closed up slightly.

James Young will be awarding a 11 x 14 print of the cover art for Kraken Edition signed by the author and Justin Adams to a randomly drawn winner and a 9 x 12 print of the “The Butcher’s Blade,” a sci-fi artwork print that will be the cover for Though Our Hulls Burn, the sequel to An Unproven Concept to two randomly drawn winners (US ONLY GIVEAWAYS) via rafflecopter during the tour. Follow the tour for more chances to win.a Rafflecopter giveaway

James Young is a Missouri native who escaped small town life via an appointment to the United States Military Academy. After completing his service in the Army, Mr. Young moved to Kansas to pursue his doctorate in U.S. History. Fiction is his first love, and he is currently the author of the Usurper’s War (alternate history), Vergassy Chronicles (space opera), and Scythefall (apocalyptic fiction) series, all of which are available via Amazon or Createspace. Currently living in the Midwest with his loving, kind, and beautiful spouse, Mr. Young spends his time completing his dissertation while plotting new, interesting ways to torment characters and readers alike. As a non-fiction author, Mr. Young has won the 2016 United States Naval Institute’s Cyberwarfare Essay contest and the U.S. Armor Center’s Draper Award for a battle analysis of the Golan Heights. He has also placed in the James A. Adams Cold War History contest held by the Virginia Military Institute and been published in the Journal of Military History (“The Heights of Ineptitude”).

(This page uses affiliate links to help support the cost of maintaining the blog. Purchasing a product through a provided link may provide us with a small fee to help us keep doing what we do. Thanks for your support)